Expressions of interest for Chevron stake

It comes with mounting expectations that other owners of the project, such as Shell, BP and BHP, also will be keen to divest their interest.

Chevron is believed to be calling for expressions of interest next month for the sale of its stake in the North West Shelf, according to sources in the market.

The US energy giant has had investment bank UBS busy preparing a sale process for the $5.8bn stake that is likely attract Australian listed energy players such as Beach Energy and Woodside Petroleum.

So far Woodside, which is the operator of the project and which delivered a $US4.1bn loss in its half-year results on Thursday, is considered the most likely buyer of the asset.

As reported by The Australian on Thursday, flyer documents for the sale are out in the market and information memorandums will be received when expressions of interest are due next month, with a conclusion to the process at the end of the year.

It comes with mounting expectations that other owners of the project, such as Shell, BP and BHP, also will be keen to divest their interest.

Some believe that most of the major investment banks will line up to provide funding for Woodside’s anticipated bid for the Chevron stake, but it may opt to use a boutique firm to act as an adviser, such as Rothschild or Lazard, or be self-advised.

The process will likely be followed by that run by Exxon for its Gippsland joint venture project through adviser JPMorgan.

Chevron received earlier offers for the stake before it was placed on the market, and some believe they could have come from parties such as Blackstone, The Carlyle Group or GIP.

Elsewhere, Sydney airport’s book build for the shortfall of shares for its $2bn equity raising was priced on Thursday at $5.30 a share. The floor price for the book build that enables new investors to take up stock was $4.56 a share and bids were being accepted in 5c increments from $4.60.